Eastern Christian Worlds.

Mahmound Zibawi Translated by Madeleine Beaumont The Liturgical Press, $99.95, 272 pp.

Just as there is a renewed interest in our day in Gregorian chant, so there is also a re-assimilation of the icon into our religious sensibilities. In this latter case the fascination with the icon has led to modern imitations as well as newer creative extensions of the art to include contemporary and more popular saintly figures such as Dorothy Day, Oscar Romero, and John Henry Newman. This interest in the icon is to be found among all churches and constitutes what the eminent historical scholar, Olivier Clement, in the preface to this work calls the "ecumenism of beauty." In fact, as the necessary, but more theoretical and official dialogues continue between East and West, the liturgical and artistic ecumenism continues at its own unauthorized pace.

With regard to icons we all have a knowledge, even if superficial, of the Byzantine tradition. We have also become well-acquainted with the iconography of other groups that were associated with Byzantium throughout history. For example, we admire especially the Russian Orthodox tradition. Reproductions of the great Greek icons as well as their Russian counterparts have become commonplace now in the West. Because of its countless reproductions, most people now recognize the icon of the Trinity and the Eucharist--perhaps the most famous icon in the world-picturing the three angels during their meal with Abraham, painted by Andre Rublev about the year 1410 and now in the Historical Museum in Moscow.

But the icons of the other Orthodox churches--the Syrians, the Armenians, the Ethiopians, the Copts--are less well known. These pre-Chalcedonian, or Eastern Orthodox churches as we call them, also had their icons. For this reason Mahmoud Zibawi's study is most needed. Zibawi concentrates precisely on these Eastern Orthodox churches that went their own way after the Council of Chalcedon (451) and outlines their iconographic contribution.

The text is not an easy one to read since the style is often elliptic, passing from historical to aesthetic comments in the same paragraph and presupposing more knowledge than the average, even educated, reader might possess about the early Christological controversies and the councils of the fifth century. On the other hand, the bibliography is more than adequate for those who wish for further clarification, and, most important, many examples of the icons discussed are beautifully reproduced in colored plates. Sadly, however, the physical deterioration of so many of the best pieces is also evident.

Zibawi does not end his discussion with the late Middle Ages, as many such books on the icon do, but continues his story in many cases into the last century. This scope makes the book somewhat uneven in depth, but even the later examples he produces are of interest. The author is correct in his assertion that we cannot understand another church without understanding its full tradition, not just its theological formulas. The icon becomes a way of telling another story, especially about how the divine and the human are to meet. Since this was at the heart of the Christological struggles of the fourth century, the icons become more than just pictures to pray in front of; they were expressions of dogma. They are doctrine in art. They are theology in visible form. The search for the transcendent finds its expression in the icon, just as it does in the liturgy itself.

The West has often been enticed by the beauty of icons, by their otherworldly quality, their transparency and incandescence. Still, we must ask what it is that the painter is trying to portray. This leads to the whole question of divinization and the relationship between the human and the divine. Icons in the Eastern Orthodox tradition maintain a likeness to the person depicted but do so under very stringent norms, lest they fail in their portrayal of the human participation in divine life. The icon is thus not an end but a means toward a deeper Christological and anthropological understanding.

As in the Byzantine tradition, the pre-Chalcedonians did not permit three-dimensional art. Although a few early reliefs on buildings, doors, and the like can still be found, the three-dimensional portrayal is too graphic for the spiritualization sought by the religious artist. Zibawi quotes Hypatios of Ephesus (sixth century) to explain this position: "We accept that veneration be shown to images traced on wood and stone but not to sculptured images." Even this adage was highly controverted, as was evident during the iconoclastic controversies. It can also be taken for granted with the pre-Chalcedonian churches that during the iconoclastic controversies a goodly number of fine pieces from the early centuries, that is, created before the Council of Nicaea II in 787, were destroyed.

One of the benefits of studying the art marvelously reproduced in this book is in tracing the various currents that influenced iconic style. As one would expect, the Byzantine influence is pervasive. But the Arabic contribution is also clear, both in the decorative surroundings--the framework of the pieces--as well as in the ornaments. The crossover between secular and sacred patterns is less discernible than in the purely Byzantine models. We must remember that Islam opposed human figures in art and excelled more in decorative textures.

A quick glance through the book will convince any reader that the faces depicted are not the usual Greek and Russian profiles. These icons depict a more diversified church and a more universal one. Eastern Christian Worlds is thus not just a fine contribution to the broader history of the icon but shows the art of a vast and believing segment of the church, a communion too frequently neglected, if not forgotten, in the West.

Rembert G. Weakland, O.S.B., is the archbishop of Milwaukee.